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Promoting Posts in 2017

I did a Promoting Posts page in 2013 when the book came out and intended to update it, but decided to leave it as an historical artifact for comparisons later on. With the last of 2016 drawing to a close, here’s what I do now:

As you likely know from reading New Media for Designers + Builders, I've long been an advocate of building vigorously interconnected networks of many nodes. But I've now built enough Original Green nodes that I need this checklist to make sure I catch them all whenever I do new Original Green blog posts. The first several promotions are done from a net chiclet bar I place at the bottom of each post; the remainder are done elsewhere.

One note: This might seem like a daunting list. When I gave an earlier version to Hazel Borys a few years ago when she was setting up PlaceMakers' New Media presence, she told me that the first time she did it, it took her more than a half-hour. But once you get the hang of it, it goes much faster. I can do everything shown here in not much over ten minutes if it's not a post I'm submitting to Planetizen or Grist, which take longer.

Diigo

I tag each post on Diigo with keywords. To do so, go to each post and click the Diigo net chiclet at the bottom of the post. It will take you to the Add New Bookmark page, where it has already filled in the URL of your post and the title of the post. Copy the description you wrote on DIGG and paste it into the Description box. You should have already meta-tagged your post in your site-building software (again, Sandvox for me) with keywords. Rather than typing them all over again, just copy them from Sandvox (or whatever) and paste them into the Tags box in Diigo. You'll have to tweak them a bit, because tags in Sandvox are comma-separated, whereas tags in Diigo are space-separated so you'll need to put quotations around multi-word tags. This post tells you how to turn the tags into a tag cloud.

Google

The Google chiclet allows you to add a Google Bookmark. It automatically enters the URL and page name. Labels in Google Bookmarks are the same things as Tags in Diigo. Fortunately, Google's Labels are comma-separated so you can simply copy the meta tags from your site-building software and paste them into the Labels box. Next, copy your DIGG description and paste it into Notes, and you're done with Google.

LinkedIn

The LinkedIn chiclet takes you to a Share News on LinkedIn page. Paste the Diigo description into the Comments box. I have an Original Green Group on LinkedIn, so I check the Post to Group(s) box and select this group. I also leave the Twitter box checked, although I'll tweet again later. Additionally, I'm a member of several other LinkedIn groups and, depending on the post subject, I may share it with one or more of these as well:

Form-Based Coding

Institute of Classical Architecture & Art

International Network of Traditional Building, Architecture, and Urbanism (INTBAU)

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU)

The Prince's Foundation

Pinterest

The Pinterest chiclet lets you share one image at a time from your blog post. I’ve experimented with this in different ways, and have (sorta) settled on a two-step process that’s pretty fast. When you select the image you’re interested in, the Pinterest window will come up. Copy the Accessibility Description for the image (which should be something poetic) from Sandvox (or wherever) to the Pinterest description. Then, copy the blog post URL and paste it into the description as well. If someone clicks that, it’ll take them back to your blog post, which is the goal all along. Be sure to click the Post to Twitter box.

Reddit

Hazel Borys told me that she has occasionally had Reddit links hit strong for her, so I’ve added a Reddit chiclet. For a long time, I posted to Reddit using just the post name, but I’m now experimenting with adding the meta description as well.

StumbleUpon

Clicking the StumbleUpon chiclet takes you to their submission page, which is similar to several others above. Copy and paste tags and description like before. You also have to tell them if it's safe for work (no nudity, etc.) and select a category. Several of my posts have been picked up and featured by StumbleUpon, resulting in a good bump in traffic.

Buffer

Chuck Marohn turned me on to Buffer, which lets you post to several places at once, and releases the posts at the times they’re most likely to be read. I post to Twitter, Facebook, the Original Green Group on Facebook, the Original Green book page on Facebook, the Mouzon Design, Guild Foundation, and Sky Institute pages on Facebook, my LinkedIn profile, and my Google+ profile, all at once… and often in the middle of the night when I get some spare time.

Twitter

I use the Tweet button in my blog sidebar to tweet about the post. Sometimes, I'll do several tweets over the course of a couple days, each highlighting a different aspect of the blog post. Don't tweet the same stuff over and over, however, otherwise your followers will get annoyed and unfollow you.

Google+

I use the Google+ button in my blog sidebar to post to Google+. This is different from the Google chiclet above, which bookmarks the page. With Google+, you need to write a slightly longer description of what the post is all about.

Planetizen

I occasionally submit my best work to Planetizen. Their submissions web page is http://www.planetizen.com/news/submit. They don't always post submissions, but when they do, it normally results in a big bump in readership because their audience is huge. With Planetizen, you're not posting your actual post, but rather a short story about the post. Even if they don't pick it up, this "story about a story" is useful in other places as noted below, so it's not just wasted time.

Better! Cities & Towns

I have for some time been submitting my best work to Better! Cities & Towns. To do this, email Rob Steuteville and have him set you up as a blogger. If he knows and respects your work, he's happy to do this. If he doesn't know your work, he'll do some research. Once you're set up as a blogger, first log in and it will take you to your user page. Near the bottom of the sidebar, you'll see Blogger Admin. Just below that, click Post Blog Entry. The Create Network Blog Entry page is fairly self-explanatory, and mainly involves cutting and pasting from your existing post. A Better! Cities & Towns post, unlike Planetizen, is a full re-post of your blog post.